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Exclusive: An Unseen Look at Totokaelo's Epic New York Store

The multibrand scene in New York is about to get a whole lot bigger. Totokaelo, the cultishly adored Seattle-based retailer, is setting up shop in SoHo. This Saturday its first East Coast brick-and-mortar will open at 54 Crosby Street, an 8,400-square-foot, five-story space that’s poised to welcome NYFW’s many with open arms; a veritable mecca of insidery favorites.

That same in-the-know sensibility has always distinguished Totokaelo’s ecommerce presence, where shoppers can take pleasure in discovering lesser-known gems tucked in alongside legends of the industry’s avant-garde. Entering on the ground floor of the SoHo digs, shoppers are greeted by Vetements’s much-vaunted $1,400 denim, hanging just a few racks down from newcomer Suzanne Rae. That heady mix of the familiar and the unsung is the work of CEO and founder Jill Wenger, who relocated to New York late last year to head up the company with the core of her team. Since launching online retail back in 2008, Wenger has picked up a lofty mix of labels, from Maison Martin Margiela to Dries Van Noten to Junya Watanabe, emphasizing artfully curated seasonal buys that differ markedly from those of the department stores.

In contrast to the company’s steady growth (on track to hit $17 million in sales by year’s end), the New York store has been a hell-for-leather sprint, crystallizing in the past seventy days. On a walk-through earlier this week, Wenger, in brocade Margiela kicks, deftly navigated a small legion of painters and builders. “We wanted to give an equal weight to decor,” she said, ascending the stairs to the space’s second floor. The soaring atrium of that space alone could breezily pass for sufficient ornamentation, so edifying is its airiness and impressive its scale. Between the natural wood grain of built-in shelving, mismatched pots of greenery, and generous stacks of books, you almost feel as though you've stepped into someone’s immaculately appointed home. Down a couple of steps lies “Designer Color”: the latest from Haider Ackermann, Acne Studios, et al (Fashion Goths will find their Rick and Ann just across the floor in Designer Black), and a public terrace.

Lower levels, delightfully labyrinthine, play host to dressing rooms (complete with iPhone chargers). For the guys, there’s Totokaelo Man, housed in a cavernous, all-black cellar with theatrical track lighting. Quoth Wenger, “I want them to feel fucking sexy!” Take a break in a courtyard space off the basement and come up for air to shop some more; a lucky few may even gain entrée to a secret stock room. That VIP sensibility is at the concept’s core. “I really want to build a community,” Wenger says, adding that she’ll be putting in plenty of time at the store herself. Indeed, it’s not tough to imagine losing a day here–browse between the floors; read on the terrace . . . “order lunch,” she laughs.